Fair Work Inspectors Target Melbourne Businesses

The Fair Work Ombudsman will audit businesses in
Melbourne as part of its latest compliance campaign.

The audits will target hotspots including restaurants and cafes
in the popular Degraves Street and Hardware Lane dining strips in
the Melbourne CBD.

Fair Work inspectors will check that employers are complying
with their legal obligations. Including paying employees their
lawful minimum wages and entitlements under the Fair Work Act,
National Employment Standards and relevant Modern Awards.

Inspectors will also check compliance with record-keeping
and pay-slip obligations.

The maximum penalties for failing to keep employee records or
issue pay slips have doubled to $63,000 for a company and $12,600
for an individual, and the maximum penalty for knowingly making or
keeping false or misleading employee records has tripled to $12,600
for an individual.

Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said the audits are the latest
in a string of proactive compliance activities targeting popular
food hubs.

"Protecting the rights of vulnerable workers in the fast
food, restaurant and café sector is a priority for the Fair Work
Ombudsman. Successive activities in popular food precincts across
Australia have revealed unacceptable breaches of workplace
laws."

"Our audits have established a link between prices and wage
underpayments and it is clear that the true cost of cheap food may
be the employees' lawful entitlements. We will take enforcement
action if today's audits find serious breaches of workplace
laws," Ms Parker said.

The hospitality industry was again overrepresented in contacts
to the FWO in 2017-18, with 18% of workplace disputes recorded, a
third of court actions and almost 40% of all anonymous reports,
despite representing just seven per cent of the workforce.

Ms Parker said the hospitality sector employs a large proportion
of vulnerable workers, including young workers, students and visa
holders.